Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley didn’t register any official stats in the loss to the Oakland Raiders this past Sunday, so according to many, he had a bad game.
While Woodley did fail to register a sack in the game, he did register three and a half quarterback hurries and three had positive outcomes as they led to two sacks and one interception. You can see those three pressures below. Sure, he slipped on the final one, but his penetration forced the mobile Terrelle Pryor from the pocket.
Woodley also dropped into coverage five times and was never targeted by Pryor.
So what about against the run? Outside of the 93-yard touchdown run by Pryor to start the game, which we now know wasn’t a result of Woodley not doing his job, the Raiders only rushed for an average of 2.57 yards on the seven other runs to the right. Woodley’s job as an outside linebacker is to set the edge and he did that job well.
On runs up the middle by the Raiders, they averaged only 1.93 yards on 14 attempts.
Was this a Pro Bowl performance by Woodley? Absolutely not, but to call him to the carpet for not registering any official stats in the game is foolish and irresponsible. If the other 10 players on defense had done their jobs in the game as well as Woodley did his, the Steelers would have likely won the game.
